TPCASTT: Poem Analysis Method: title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme
T
I think the Title of poem means:
I think the title of this poem means that there are two ways to look at war, in a positive and a negative way, depending on your position in the war.
P
Paraphrase parts of the Poem
All the wars are planned by old men who receive more protection than the soldiers, and plan the battle strategy.
But on the battle field where thoughts of honor have disappeared, the dead are all young men.
The lazy, fat, and sober old men decide to go to war.
The old men can’t see or don’t seem to car that their soldiers are young boys, and they make up nearly all of the dead.
C
Connotation of some of the words—changing literal meaning to implied or associated values
Rhyme- rhyme can be found at the end of lines 2 and 4, then again on lines 6 and 8, a third time on lines 10 and 12, and once more on lines 14 and 16. (apart and chart, grey and lay, vote and note, and toys and boys)
Oxymoron- on line 13, stanza four, there is an oxymoron- “sightless eyes”
A
Attitude—What is the attitude of the author, characters, or yourself?
The attitude of the author is solemn and sad. The poem brings to light the fact that many of these young men going off to be soldiers are really going off to die, while the older strategists are living a comfortable life away from the front lines. Despite this, they are the ones who say when to go to war, regardless of how many dead young men there will be.
S
Shift—At first we think or feel one way—then there is a shift: identify the shifts and explain them
At first you think of the planning of war with the first stanza, then it shifts to the “shattered field” where there are young, dead men, giving a feeling of sorrow and sympathy for the dead that their lives were so short. After this, there is another shift back to the council room, where the “portly and solemn” old men, because of their pride, decide to go to war. This is back to the clinical thinking where the elders make this decision based solely on pride. There is one last shift after this stanza, leading into feelings of remorse and a little blame towards the old men who decided to go to war. It discusses the fact that, even though there are so many dead and most are “hardly more than boys”, the men refuse to see that these men died young for a war that they had no say in.
T
Title revisited—any new insights on meaning or significance of title.
Now that I have read the poem, I think the title is trying to say that there are two sides of war. There is the side where leaders devise strategies and stay safe, away from the heart of battle, and the side where the soldiers are fighting, not only for their country, but for their lives. I also think the title is trying to say that before the leaders of a country decide to launch a declaration of war, they should take into consideration that they, themselves, my not be in the heat of battle with terrorizing conditions, but their soldiers are.
T
Theme or Author’s Purpose
I think the author’s purpose for writing this poem is to talk about the true sides of war, how the people of greater status and age sit around discussing strategy in a place well-guarded and safe, there are the soldiers that’s enemy isn’t only the other country’s soldiers, but disease, lack of food, and vermin as well. The theme for this is, there is another side to every story and action.
Anderson, Matt. "The Western Front." World War I.
ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Qld)
Incorporated, n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2011.
"Aviation During World War I." Entry Of Flight. Entry Of
Flight, n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2011.
<http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation
history/airplane at war/eastern_front.htm>.
No Man's Land, Western Front, and Eastern Front:
Two Sides of War (All Wars)
"All wars are planned by older men
In council rooms apart,
Who call for greater armament
And map the battle chart.
But out along the shattered field
Where golden dreams turn gray,
How very young the faces were
Where all the dead men lay.
Portly and solemn in their pride,
The elders cast their vote
For this or that, or something else,
That sounds the martial note.
But where their sightless eyes stare out
Beyond life's vanished toys,
I've noticed nearly all the dead
Were hardly more than boys."
~Grantland Rice
http://www.illyria.com/poetry.html
TPCASTT Template
I think the title of this poem means that there are two ways to look at war, in a positive and a negative way, depending on your position in the war.
The attitude of the author is solemn and sad. The poem brings to light the fact that many of these young men going off to be soldiers are really going off to die, while the older strategists are living a comfortable life away from the front lines. Despite this, they are the ones who say when to go to war, regardless of how many dead young men there will be.
At first you think of the planning of war with the first stanza, then it shifts to the “shattered field” where there are young, dead men, giving a feeling of sorrow and sympathy for the dead that their lives were so short. After this, there is another shift back to the council room, where the “portly and solemn” old men, because of their pride, decide to go to war. This is back to the clinical thinking where the elders make this decision based solely on pride. There is one last shift after this stanza, leading into feelings of remorse and a little blame towards the old men who decided to go to war. It discusses the fact that, even though there are so many dead and most are “hardly more than boys”, the men refuse to see that these men died young for a war that they had no say in.
Now that I have read the poem, I think the title is trying to say that there are two sides of war. There is the side where leaders devise strategies and stay safe, away from the heart of battle, and the side where the soldiers are fighting, not only for their country, but for their lives. I also think the title is trying to say that before the leaders of a country decide to launch a declaration of war, they should take into consideration that they, themselves, my not be in the heat of battle with terrorizing conditions, but their soldiers are.
I think the author’s purpose for writing this poem is to talk about the true sides of war, how the people of greater status and age sit around discussing strategy in a place well-guarded and safe, there are the soldiers that’s enemy isn’t only the other country’s soldiers, but disease, lack of food, and vermin as well. The theme for this is, there is another side to every story and action.
link to my Prezi:
http://prezi.com/wxhgril7jkhp/no-mans-land-western-front-and-eastern-front/
Work Cited:
Websites:
"No Man's Land." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus
Educational, n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2011.
<http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWnoman.htm>.
Anderson, Matt. "The Western Front." World War I.
ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Qld)
Incorporated, n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2011.
"Aviation During World War I." Entry Of Flight. Entry Of
Flight, n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2011.
<http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation
history/airplane at war/eastern_front.htm>.